A trace of regret and disappointment flashed in Tuoba Zeyan's eyes, but instead, he grabbed one of Liu Mengyan's hands and said, "This palace likes you!" It's not about the power of the Dingguo Mansion! If I didn't like you, why did this temple do so much for you? ”

He bit every word extremely hard, as if he had exhausted all the strength of his body.

Then, tears welled up in his eyes like a clear spring.

Similarly, Liu Mengyan's eyes had long been stimulated by the excitement in her heart to tears.

She asked herself if she could trust him.

But she didn't have an answer in her heart!

"Do you say that there is no one in this world who believes in it anymore?" Tuoba Zeyan asked suddenly.

Liu Mengyan was dumbfounded. The question seemed to give insight into what had happened to her.

But how is that possible?

"It's almost time, Mengyan is going back to Chengqian Palace. If it is late, it will be disrespectful to the emperor and queen. Liu Mengyan pulled her hand out of Tuoba Zeyan's hand.

Then she walked away briskly.

Watching her slender figure drift away, Tuoba Zeyan shook his hand tightly, his lips moved, and he said something repeatedly, but these words drifted away with the wind and did not reach Liu Mengyan's ears.

Liu Mengyan and Tuoba Zeyan returned to the Chengqian Hall one after the other.

Everyone came back, and the emperor and queen and the concubines were already sitting in the hall, drinking tea and talking with each other.

Everyone saluted, and the queen said, "Have you all found the most beautiful flower in this imperial garden?" ”

Hearing this, some people were confident, and some were a little unwilling, but they all said in unison, "Back to the emperor and queen, I found it." ”

The queen smiled with satisfaction, and then gave the chief attendant a look, and the chief attendant naturally understood, and instructed the palace maids to send down the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone.

"Please take a seat, and draw the most beautiful flowers found in the imperial garden on paper, and the emperor and queen will appreciate them in a while." The chief chamberlain said in a loud voice.

As soon as these words came out, some people were happy and some were sad.

If you have good painting skills, you will naturally be happy, but if you don't have good painting skills, you don't dare to say anything, this is the will of the queen's mother, even if you are not good at it, you can only bite the bullet.

In fact, the queen is also testing the painters in this way.

As a woman, it is natural to be proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Looking at everyone's expressions in this way, it is clear whether it will be this calligraphy and painting.

Although some of the women did not know how to paint, they did not dare to delay, and they all took their seats and began to draw as soon as they began to write.

Taking advantage of this gap, several concubines were also carefully observing these young ladies of the family.

Halfway through the painting, Chen Guifei looked at Xiao Yumei and showed a very pleased smile, and whispered to the palace maid who was close to her: "This Xiao family's concubine Xiao Yumei is not bad, you see her, calm and confident, it seems that she is a well-organized person." ”

These words fell into the ears of Concubine Xuan on the side, and she immediately praised in a voice that was not light or heavy, "This Xiao Yumei is not bad, she is not the daughter of the Xiao family." ”

When Queen Wang heard this, she followed their gaze to Xiao Yumei, and saw that she was painting seriously, and her pen was also smooth, and the flowers on the paper had been painted, which was very lifelike.

She already has some bottom in her heart, presumably both of them have taken a fancy to Xiao Yumei, the daughter of the Xiao family. After all, this Xiao Yumei

Behind it is the entire Xiao family, and this Xiao family has produced two generals, and their influence in the DPRK and China can be described as pivotal and should not be underestimated.

"I think this Liu family's daughter, Liu Ruoyu is also good." She smiled and said softly.

The concubines moved their eyes to Liu Ruoyu's body again, only to see that she was a little clumsy and struggling to hold the pen, Concubine Xuan frowned suddenly, glanced at her with some disgust, and then moved her gaze elsewhere.

Chen Guifei paid some attention to Liu Ruoyu, after all, Liu Ruoyu's identity background is also unusual.

This Liu Ruoyu is the daughter of the county lord of Qingping, and she can be regarded as the emperor's cousin and nephew when she is close.

What's more, her father, Second Master Liu is the imperial history of the left capital of the cabinet, and he is the crown prince, which is not bad, but unfortunately he is a little clumsy.

She couldn't help but sigh and shake her head, but the person looks quite cute, the side concubine, it's okay to be stupid, so as not to cause any trouble by competing with the concubine and being jealous.

Although she thought so, she also had to see what the prince meant, so she looked at the prince and signaled how this Liu Ruoyu was.

But the prince frowned and shook his head.

Even so, Chen Guifei had no choice, so she moved her eyes elsewhere and stopped looking at Liu Ruoyu.

The flowers of all the women were almost painted, and the chamberlain put away the paintings one by one and presented them to Emperor Xuan and Queen Wang.

Emperor Xuan read it first, then the queen, and then the concubines. It took a lot of choices to choose two out of it.

Emperor Xuan nodded again and again, "These two are not bad." ”

The queen leaned over, looked at it, and nodded again and again, "These two paintings are really good, and the painting is also good, look at these flowers vividly, as if they are compared to the flowers in the imperial garden." ”

When everyone heard the queen's words, they were not only a little curious, whose painting was this, which could be appreciated by the emperor and the queen.

Then, the chamberlain asked the palace maids to show the two paintings selected by Emperor Xuan and Empress Wang: a peony picture and a cosmos flower, the two paintings look comparable, if it is about painting, but the peony picture is better.

Everyone looked at these two pictures, and the red and bright peonies seemed to be picked from the imperial garden, lifelike, and jumped on the paper. Although the cosmos is not bad, it is not as amazing as the peony picture.

"This peony is very well painted, I don't know who made it?" Queen Wang asked, looking at the peony picture.

At this time, Xiao Yumei stood up, "Back to the emperor, the queen's mother, this peony is made by a courtier." ”

"Okay, then tell me, why do you think this peony flower is the most beautiful flower in the imperial garden?" Emperor Xuan asked with interest.

Xiao Yumei smiled, her eyebrows and eyes showed the grandeur of the general, "Back to the emperor, the peony is the leader of the flowers, and it is also my mother's favorite peony, so the courtiers have always thought that the peony is the most beautiful among all flowers." ”

After listening to her reason, Emperor Xuan couldn't help but smile very gratifyingly, "Very good, I always think about my mother, and my filial piety is good." Plus you're a good painter. ”

After receiving Emperor Xuan's praise, Xiao Yumei was out of the limelight for a while, and everyone turned their eyes to her, some envious and some jealous.

And then there's that cosmos.

Emperor Xuan pointed to the picture and said, "Then who made this picture?" ”

I saw Wan Yuanyuan, the daughter of the Wan family, get up: "Back to the emperor, this cosmos is made by a courtier." ”

"Okay, then you can also tell me why you think this cosmos is the most beautiful?" Emperor Xuan said.

Wan Yuanyuan is not as atmospheric as Xiao Yumei, she has the feeling of a small jasper, her face is shy, and her voice is gentle and soft, "Back to the emperor, the white cosmos are as holy as snow, just like a woman who is ice clear and jade, and abides by her duty, so the courtiers think that this white cosmos is the most beautiful." ”

Emperor Xuan nodded again and again after hearing this, "Yes, although there are many people in these paintings who have drawn cosmos, they are not as ingenious as yours." And it can contain the beautiful virtues of women, which is also very wonderful. Not bad! ”

Everyone cast their approving eyes on Wan Yuanyuan again.

The Empress slowly skimmed through the remaining paintings.

I thought that Xiao Yumei and Wan Yuanyuan were the best, but when she saw a picture, she couldn't help but be stunned for a long time, and her eyes showed a very relieved and moved look.

After looking at it for a long time, he handed it over to the chamberlain.

The inner attendant looked at the picture, and was also slightly stunned, but he didn't dare to say more, and turned around and presented the painting to Emperor Xuan for viewing.

After Emperor Xuan saw the painting, his face moved, pondered for a long time, and then said to the internal attendant: "This painting is the leader, show it to everyone." ”

Everyone was looking forward to it, but when they saw the painting, they turned their anticipation into surprise.

Because this painting is not a flower at all, it is obviously two trees connected together.

Everyone began to speculate about who painted this, and it was actually possible for the queen to choose it.

"Who made this painting?" Queen Wang asked in a loud voice with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see who had painted it.

At this time, I saw Liu Mengyan standing up without fear in the eyes of everyone, "Back to the emperor, the queen, this painting was made by a courtier." ”

Her voice was neither shocked nor flattered, neither humble nor arrogant, she knew that the queen would definitely choose this painting, and now it was as she expected.

"But it's not a flower, it's a tree, how do you think this tree is the most beautiful in the garden?" Queen Wang asked directly.

She was also very looking forward to it, thinking that these two acacia trees were precious only to her, but she didn't want anyone to think that she was the most beautiful in the imperial garden.

Liu Mengyan raised her head and said in a loud voice, "The Imperial Garden is the Royal Garden, and there are thousands of flowers and plants in it, all of which are extremely beautiful. However, none of them are as beautiful as these two trees. ”

"Why?" Queen Wang asked. With a hint of anticipation in my heart.

Because these two husband and wife trees were planted by the mother and the emperor when they were young, it means that the husband and wife are one, the world is one, the country is safe, and the people are harmonious. Therefore, the courtiers thought that these two husband and wife trees connected together were the most beautiful in the entire imperial garden. Liu Mengyan said with her head up.

After her words, everyone was amazed, they didn't expect the two trees on this painting to be so big.

Xiao Yumei and Wu Yuelin, as well as Wan Yuanyuan, the daughter of the Wan family, heard this, and they already knew in their hearts that Liu Mengyan was the winner of this event today.

And Emperor Xuan and Empress Wang were a little moved by Liu Mengyan's words, as if they remembered the past events when they were young, and couldn't help but glance at each other, and the two looked at each other and smiled.